45917: If it is permissible for a woman to live alone, why can’t she travel without a mahram?

Can women live alone? If they can live alone, why can't they travel alone?.

Praise be to Allaah.

A woman may live alone subject to the condition that she is
trustworthy and is not a woman of dubious character. With regard to a woman
travelling without a mahram, it is clearly not allowed, as in the hadeeth
narrated by al-Bukhaari (1729) and Muslim (2391) from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may
Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “No woman should travel except with a mahram,
and no man should enter upon her unless a mahram of hers is present.” A man
said: “O Messenger of Allaah, I want to go out with such and such an army
and my wife wants to go for Hajj.” He said: “Go out (for Hajj) with her.”

This is completely wise, because travel involves hardship and
exhaustion, and because of her weakness a woman needs someone to help her
and stay by her side. Things may happen to her that may cause her to lose
control when her mahram is not with her. This is well known nowadays when
there are so many accidents involving cars and other means of
transportation.

Moreover, if a woman travels alone, that exposes her to
temptation and men may make approaches, especially when there is a great
deal of corruption. Someone may sit near her who does not fear Allaah, and
he may tempt her to do something haraam.

If we assume that a woman is travelling alone in her car, she
is exposed to other dangers, such as her car breaking down, or evil people
ganging up on her, etc.

This makes its clear that Islam is the first of all systems
to take care of women, protect their honour, respect them and regard them as
precious pearls that must be protected from evil.

We submit to the command of Allaah and His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and we know that it contains
complete wisdom and mercy, because Allaah only forbids to His slaves that
which is harmful for them.

It is not correct to compare travel to a woman staying alone
in a house in her own land, because there are more dangers in the place that
a woman travels to. If a woman is in her own town, if anything happens to
her or she needs someone to help her, she will find someone to help her. The fear of evil people attacking her is less when she is in her own town and her own house than when she is travelling.